Corroded pipe sends raw sewage rushing into harbor off Bainbridge Island
Up to 140,000 gallons of raw sewage could be spilled into Eagle Harbor by the time a corroded pipe is fixed on Tuesday morning, according to the City of Bainbridge Island.
Crews will be sent to repair the line early on Tuesday, when low tide will allow access to the site. The spill was first noticed about 3 p.m. Saturday. By 9 a.m. Sunday, when crews were able to make temporary repairs to the pipe during low tide, an estimated 70,000 gallons of raw waste had flowed into Eagle Harbor.
Another 70,000 gallons of sewage could be spilled into the harbor by the time the 32-year-old iron pipe is completely fixed. The pipe carries city sewage from a pump station to the treatment plant near Hawley Cove Park.
The Kitsap County Health District has issued a 10-day “no contact” advisory for an area stretching along the shoreline from Yeomalt Point south to Rockaway Beach Road, including all of Eagle Harbor. The advisory affects recreational activities such as swimming and waterskiing, and shellfish harvesting in the area.
Warning signs have been posted at public access points in the closure area, and the health district will be testing the water for fecal bacteria levels.
Contact with fecal contaminated waters can cause gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses. The spill also poses environmental hazards, since sewage releases nitrogen and other nutritients that feed algae. As it decays and sinks, algae strips away the oxygen that marine life need to survive.
Lance Newkirk, the City of Bainbridge’s deputy director of operations and maintenance, said the city identified the shoreline sewer network around Eagle Harbor as a problem area two years ago. An assessment was conducted but the results were inconclusive, Newkirk said, so no action was taken.
“Like communities across the country, Bainbridge Island is facing the challenge of managing aging sewer and water infrastructures,” Newkirk said in a statement. “We need to work with the city council to determine how to rank this need for repairs with other capital improvement needs.”
It sounds like you’re creating problems yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why their is a problem in the first place
So, how many gallons of sewage have been pumped overboard by the recreational and live aboard boaters in Eagle Harbor this year?
My guess is it is much less than 140,000 gallons. With a heavy rain, Seattle has a similar issue with raw sewage.
I hope this event will serve as a reminder to the waterfront County’s budget writers to maintain their sewage systems.